One of the most depressing exhibitions of anti-religious rhetoric of recent years is the National Secular Society’s constant attempts to air brush faith out of public view.

A recent episode has been their success in prohibiting councils from making their own choice about whether they wish to pray after the start of their meetings. (It is perfectly lawful to pray immediately prior to the start of a meeting.) In 2012 Councilor Clive Bone of Bideford Town Council was backed by the National Secular Society in a High Court Case in asserting that prayers at a meeting discriminated against him and infringed his human rights! The High Court had to rule that because the statutory powers given to councils as to how they run, did not include the power to say prayers in a meeting, the practice was not lawful.

Well, last week Parliament debated the snappily titled ‘Local Government (Religious etc Observations) Bill’ to allow councils to choose for themselves how they start their business without patronising interference. If councils wish to continue their century’s old tradition of pausing for reflection, setting the tone and placing the business of the day before God, then this bill stops militant atheists banning prayers as part of their crusade to eradicate faith.

And just in case anyone wants to make a point that religion has no place in public life, lets recall some of the facts of how faith interacts with and contributes to the common good in this country. If religion were to hide in a corner as per the secularist’s fantasy world, 1.4 million Christian volunteers would drop out of community based work (that’s over and above the work to support the life of church communities and look after the largest number of listed buildings in the country). Foodbanks would cease, Street Pastors, with their sober, caring presence in so many of our city and town centres late at night would evaporate away. Mums and toddlers groups, homeless projects, work with ex-offenders, women in the sex industry, asylum seekers, vulnerable children, addicts and those who self-harm would all see a dropping away of sustained, tangible support. Air brush Christianity out of public engagement and around 114 million volunteer hours would need to be found to maintain the community work done by churches worth about £2.4 billion a year in addition to the use of buildings and direct financial contributions.

As the Mayor’s Chaplain I consider it a privilege and honour to be invited to offer reflections and prayers at the start of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s meetings. We do this prior to the start of the meeting and so don’t get caught by the legal ban. Let’s hope the Bill gets through Parliament and our council will then have the freedom to decide its own procedures without being driven by a singularly ill-informed and biased secularist agenda.